15.5.2012 par admin.

We are currently casting for the fifth series of the hugely popular ITV1 daytime show ‘May The Best House Win’. For part of this series we’ll be heading across the channel and filming in France.

 The series features interesting homes that have been lovingly created by their owners, real passion projects and properties that are distinctive and express their owners personality, whether it’s people who live in interesting conversions, fascinating period properties, or who have filled their home with fascinating objects or artefacts, or decorated in a particular theme. Anything goes - so long as the homeowners really love their home.

In each episode we will feature 4 very different houses in a particular area. We will ask the homeowners to visit each of the other houses and award them marks out of ten. The winning homeowner wins 1000 Euros. It’s a fun show designed to bring together people with different tastes and different properties to discuss and debate their own ideas of what makes a home.

We are coming to the South of France to film in a few weeks’ time. I was keen to see if you or anyone you know might be interested in taking part. .

I would be very grateful if you could display the attached flyer in your establishment or if you could pass this message on to any relevant people and ask them to get in touch if they would like to talk about this a little more.

My direct line is 0044 2715 74730. If you know anyone that is interested in applying for the show please get them to call 0044 20 71 57 42 34 or email their contact details to besthousefrance@shiver-productions.co.uk

Thanks for your help

Sunil Mistry

Posté dans Uncategorized | Aucun commentaire »

15.5.2012 par admin.

I just wanted to let you all know that I will be performing for 10 consecutive evenings during the Cannes film festival this year as of this Thur 17th May, and its free to get it and open to the general public (unlike many other film festival events).

The venue is a restaurant called ‘The Sparkling’, Cannes (click the name for the link), it’s the place where ‘The Sundown Sisters’ performed last month. Booking is highly recommended (although they are notoriously bad at answering the phone but do persevere!!). If you don’t fancy coming for dinner, there is a small bar next to the restaurant where you can watch the show.

The Sundown Sisters (the retro 1950`s style vocal group) will be performing every night from Thursday 17th May until and including Monday 21st May and again on Saturday 26th May, and I will be performing in a vocal/guitar duo, a combination of my own songs, jazz, soul and some easy listening pop tunes from Tuesday 22nd May until and including Friday 25th May with a guitarist from UK who is coming over especially to perform with me.

Each night we will be performing 3 sets of around 30mins between 9pm - 12pm.

I hope to see as many of you as possible during our 10 night gig marathon, and please feel free to pass this email onto anyone you think might be interested in some live music during the film festival!

Posté dans Top Tips | Aucun commentaire »

13.2.2012 par admin.

Well it’s Valentine’s again and this year it means a couple of things…number one KidooLand is going to be 5 years old! Yes I can’t believe it either…and as it’s the time of year where we really think of loved ones.

So I wanted to share something close to my heart with you…

Family friends of mine based in the UK who are regular visitors to the South of France recently found out that there beautiful little girl Evie is suffering from an incurable genetic disease .

Evie’s parents Toby and Emily are regular parents like you and me. They have 3 children you know what that’s  like – it’s a busy house! Toby has a career in law and Emily runs her own business which she juggles like a pro around her small children, school runs, mealtimes and all the challenges parents face. As you can imagine this is already a busy household. Unfortunately for my friends, fate has decided to add another challenge to their already full plate. At the end of last year they sadly found out that their eldest child was suffering from a rare and incurable disease called Ataxia-Telangiectasia .. also known as A-T.

They tell the story better than I can – be warned it is a heartbreaking story .. Video :-> http://vimeo.com/35835631

So they have done what any parent would do, they are fighting to get awareness of this horrible disease into the public domain, to raise funding to ease the suffering and to support families with children suffering from this disease.

If you can do no more than share these links, I thank you.. Obviously if you want to sponsor the mad walkers in their 100 km walk or tell your media friends and famous celebrity friends then please do so as we would love the exposure!

Website: http://www.actionforat.org/about          email info@actionforAT.org

Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Action-for-A-T/300005930046577

Sponsor the walk here www.bmycharity.com/emilyread

I would like to personally thank Anna Fill from The Riviera Woman, Mike Hardaker from Anglo Info, Helen Misseri from Family First and Dawn Howard at the Roquefort Informer  who are all running articles on this.

·         Anglo Info French Riviera

·         AngloINFO London:

·         Anna Fill’s Riviera Woman

The link to Family First and the Roquefort Informer will come later.

Please do keep me in the loop of any publicity coups you manage to secure as it will help and encourage the cause..;-)

Posté dans Charity Action for A-T | Aucun commentaire »

23.12.2011 par admin.

Venice escapes escape to Valbonne! By  Louis BB age 10 years old

In the quiet, cold, streets of Valbonne on a frosty Friday morning, who would imagine that a (quite) famous author, Mrs Sandra Arthur, would take some children to do a workshop.

They had a welcome drink and cake then they crept inside this wonderful book shop and started climbing up the stairs. The first thing that crossed their minds was the mask. The mask was this beige, red mask with decorations such as felt on the sides, glitter around the eyes and it had golden flowers around the glitter. Then they discussed an amazing book that Sandra wrote herself.

http://www.sandraarthurbooks.com/

Venice Escape “Maria’s Golden Gondola Adventures” by Sandra SC Arthur …Later they watched a fascinating film on all (or almost) the different type of music and then did a few bracelets and had a snack and to finish it off they finished their masks. How do I know this? Well I was there.

(editor’s note) The Children had an amazing time at the English Book Centre in Valbonne leaving us several hours to wander around the Christmas Market and purchase some local delicacies for the table on Sunday! They left with  a little gift bag including a copy of the book so early to bed tonight to catch up on some Italian adventures!

Posté dans Uncategorized | Aucun commentaire »

14.2.2011 par admin.

I really can’t beleve it is now 4 years since I opened the KidooLand doors to the general public. How my baby has grown from a tiny little baby to a little child. Rather like real babies we went through the teething process (french administration) enjoyed the first tentative steps into the big wide world (mum and baby clubs) and now KidooLand is gaining a independance from me,  meaning I haven’t had to be here 24/7 which means I can keep my own home-work life balance in check.

We have worked with many great people in those 4 years on one off projects and longer ongoing projects but a special thanks must go to the wonderful team Karen, Lizzy, Sarah, Sandrine, Helen,  Jo and Delphine :-)  who are here each week welcoming  nearly 80 different families visiting KidooLand each week for their activities.

A perk of my job is to meet so many babies and newborns - each one a little miracle and we are proud to be part of their Early Years and here to share information on local schools and things to do in the area. If you are moving to the areaplease do feel free to drop in and see us as we have a library of information to give you on what’s what on the Cote d’Azur.

To celebrate our birthday as well as tasting a delicious cake provided by La Tasse de Couleurs in Biot (pottery painting cafe which we have tested and highly recommend!) we are running a little competition worth 50 euros to the lucky winner. You will need to get on our Facebook page to enter http://www.facebook.com/KidooPage

Keep an eye on this page because we will be working closely with lots of partners over the next months to bring you some essential information on Riviera Living and some wonderful prizes!

OK well hope you enjoy the Holidays .. we will be closed for 1 week  19th -27th feb inclusive and then open for the schoolchildren only 28 feb-4th March for the Holiday camps. Normal play resumes for the term time crew on Monday 7th March.

So whatever you get up to - have fun and good luck in the KidooCompetition

Thanks

Antonia

Posté dans Top Tips | Aucun commentaire »

29.11.2010 par admin.

At the weekend we organised a party for a 9 year old boy and called on a scientist to come and help us!

Les Sciences on Folie travelled from Nice to our home and arrived half an hour before starting to set up. All we had to provide was a good size table and a plug point.

After a safety debrief, the mini - scientists got stuck in…a group of 12 inquisitive  8-10 year olds looked at air and what happens when you heat it,  how vaccums work, made their own volcano with lava, created their own silly putty, looked at how elements changed when heated, and a whole host of other things…

A fully charged, fun packed 1h30 . They all left with a party bag from the scientist and their home made silly putty.

It’s a number well worth remembering as for the first time in many years I felt totally relaxed rather than frazzled at the end of the party .. the children were totally engrossed in the activity - interacting and of course learning.

website  

Phone: 06 32 97 09 94

Posté dans Uncategorized | Aucun commentaire »

23.11.2010 par admin.

I am sure that you like me sometimes need inspiration in the kitchen. Or perhaps you have the inspiration and then think zut I should have got some … goat’s cheese/chives/apricots ..well here is your solution!

We have tried and tested for the last 2 weeks a greengrocer based in Vence. On a Tuesday we place our order and it’s ready on the Thursday (for us in the IBM car park of La Gaude but he possibly has other delivery point too! )

Not only de we receive a bag of wonderful, fresh and healthy vegetables and fruits but also little paper bags with the essentials to create something different.

This week ” a soup with vegetables from days gone by” which included the herbs needed to add that certain je ne sais quoi… and also a tarte aux epinards et chevres …with the little rondelles of goats cheese.

Last week we had little pumkin and apricot cakes and Mr Greengrocer had even included enough apricots to make the recipe a success.

Well I’m on cloud 9 - suddenly I have some new ideas and this time all the ingredients to actually do it.

My panier gourmande costs 25euros  which kilo for kilo worked out cheaper than another greengrocer - the apples were delicious (not always the case when buying from the big hypermarkets)

Check him out … http://www.lepanierdumarche.com

He delivers to…Vence..Saint Paul …La Colle sur Loup… Tourrettes sur Loup ..Nice……La Gaude…Gattières…Saint Jeannet  et les environs and who knows if enough of you wanted it at Kidooland perhaps we could have a word with him!

Posté dans Top Tips | Aucun commentaire »

15.11.2010 par admin.

I went along to this last year and it was a really nice afternoon out with plenty of little gifts for Christmas on sale!

Enjoy a day of Christmas Shopping and Indulgence at the
Beautiful Bastide St.Mathieu.
10am - 6pm
Molton Brown, iPhone Cases, Golf Accessories, Jewellery, Beauty
Products, Books, Hampers, Candles, Clothing, Beauty Treatments,
Christmas Cards and much more.
Champagne Bar sponsored by,
Lunch with Fashion show by Prêt à Porter.
Massage and eye lash extensions, visit our website to pre-book.
Advance booking for lunch only.
2 course lunch with wine €15.
Contact lisa@thorntonallan.com
Information for sellers contact sorayacolegrave@btinternet.com
35 Chemin de Blumenthal St. Mathieu, Grasse 06130
http://www.bastidestmathieu.com/

Posté dans Uncategorized | Aucun commentaire »

8.10.2010 par admin.

I guess any busy mum is waking up today with the same thoughts as me .. where did the year go? It really does seem like just yesterday that we were opening Christmas presents and I must admit that in the last couple of days I have started thinking about what I can get for the kids for this year!

Well before we get onto that we have autumn to enjoy. I think this is my favourite season although since moving to the South of France it’s true that summer is really great fun as long as you have water to cool off in

So what’s on the menu for October .. well this weekend there is the Salon de Maternage in  Mouans Sartoux for those who are perhaps pregnant and looking for information on what’s what in the early years and then for those who have older children there is an interesting exhibition in St Jeannet near la Gaude of bird feeders. Ok that sound’s a little strange, but it’s at the most delightful venue - Graine et Ficelle a wonderful natural farm for children which is a rare find here on the Cote d’Azur.

It is only a couple of weeks now until the school holidays and at Kidooland we will be having lots of creative fun with our theme “Abracadabra” .. we will also be visiting the Picasso museum and hopefully weather permitting an outing to Marineland and Adventure Golf .. or bowling if the weather is against us. Make sure you reserve quickly as places are going fast and if we do have that week of rain we so often get you will be glad of the indoor entertainment.

 Soon we will be getting into the festive season , I know that my calendar is starting to fill up and so you will perhaps be thrilled to know that the KidooTeam are available to members for babysitting. Send an email to jo@kidooland.com for details- remember this is a member’s service only!

OK that’s all for now enjoy the autumn walks!

Posté dans KidooLangues, KidooCamps - Holidays, Uncategorized | Aucun commentaire »

10.9.2010 par admin.

Pour ceux qui ont fait les KidooCamps de summer - dernier chance de gagner un stage d’une semaine formule matin en 2011 en repondant au sondage! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3M5PZ9J

Last chance to win a weeks KidooCamp in 2011 for those that joined our KidooCamps this summer by replying to our survey closes tonight!

Good luck and have a great weekend!

Posté dans Uncategorized | Aucun commentaire »